NABLUS, Israeli forces today cracked down on an anti-settlement rally in Beit Dajan village, east of Nablus city, injuring at least two and causing dozens others to suffocate, according to local sources.
Member of the Local Land Defense Committee, Salim Abu Jish, told WAFA that a large Israeli military force violently dispersed the participants of the rally called for to defend the villagers’ land threatened with confiscation, east of the village, to make room for Israeli colonial settlement construction.
Soldiers opened fire towards the participants, hitting two with rubber-coated steel bullets and causing dozens others to suffocate from tear gas.
The casualties were rushed to a nearby hospital, while the suffocation cases were treated at the scene.
Beit Dajan has become a scene for weekly protests against the Israeli authorities move to construct new colonial settlements and expand existing ones at the expense of Palestinian territory.
Located 12 kilometers to the east of Nablus city, Beit Dajan has a population of some 4,700 and occupies a total area of 44,100 dunams, including 360 donums of built-up area for the villagers. A large part of the village lands were seized for the construction of Al-Hamra and Mekhora (Mehola) colonial settlements, east and southeast of the village, in 1971 and 1973.
The village depends on grains plantation and fruitful trees, such as olive, figs and almonds.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency